In this episode of Rethinking Supply Chain, Venzee CEO, John Abrams, catches up with Diana Chen to get into some topics that were mentioned in previous guest episodes. They begin the conversation by looking back at swarm robotics and dark factories.
John explains the basics of physical supply chain logistics, beginning in the warehouse. He describes cross-docks and how pallets get broken down for distribution. Traditionally, pickers scan deliveries in the cross-docks and then take them to the truck that will continue the supply chain. With swarm robotics and dark factories, the entire process can be automated, allowing for continuous turnover at lower energy levels and less cost to human capital.
John and Diana then shift the conversation by reviewing some previous episodes. John noticed that some younger guests from previous episodes were surprised at how low-tech most of today’s supply chain models still are. He shares some anecdotal evidence of the simple models that are still being used despite the technology available today.